Argentina win entertaining encounter
battle of “Spanish” speakers almost ended in an upset as world No 8 Spain threw ranking out of the window and were only edged by Olympic champions Argentina 4-3 in Group A.
Argentina, No 2, had to keep pace with the Spaniards right after Enrique Gonzalez scored in the third minute, and were lucky to walk away with three points in the entertaining clash.
The Argentina goals were scored by Agustin Mazzilli (4th, 15th) and Gonzalo Peillat (15th, 49th).
Spain's other goals were delivered by Josep Romeu (14th) and Vicenc Ruiz (35th).
World's best penalty corner flicker Peillat, who had played for Terengganu Hockey Team (THT) in the Malaysia Hockey League, saved the blushes with a brace.
“Spain really pushed us to the limit in the first quarter and we had to keep catching up.
“We can’t afford this type of game in our next two matches (against New Zealand and France).
Peillat was all praise for the Spaniards’ speed and determination. “We never really had the match under control and it is good for Spain as they played really well.”
The pulsating match, as well as the next one between France and New Zealand was played at a capacity crowd at the 15,000 Kalinga Stadium, and this indicated that the World Cup is truly going to be a carnival in Bhubaneswar as fans showed up in full force for the India-South Africa match on Wednesday.